If I make a disk image with TI and then restore the image, will I have to call Micro$oft and get that darned authorization again in order to use XP and Office 2003 for more than 30 days. I assume I won't if I restore on the same machine that I have now 'cause as I understand it, the M$ software is "keyed" to the machine.

But if I restore to another blank HDD on another machine, what happens then??

Now I did read on another thread (quite lengthy - 3 pages already) that this is a problem with TI10 (I have TI9) and the new M$ OS, Vista, but that it isn't a problem with XP (I use XP2 HE). So I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance here.

If you restore to another machine then unless it is exactly the same as the original it will not boot as you will need new drivers etc. You could use another version of TI which allows drivers to be added during restore. (TI 9.1 Workstation with Universal Restore)
If you restore to the same machine you do not need to activate XP again.
If you search this forum you will see that the question has been asked many times.

If I make a disk image with TI and then restore the image, will I have to call Micro$oft and get that darned authorization again in order to use XP and Office 2003 for more than 30 days. I assume I won't if I restore on the same machine that I have now 'cause as I understand it, the M$ software is "keyed" to the machine.

But if I restore to another blank HDD on another machine, what happens then??

Now I did read on another thread (quite lengthy - 3 pages already) that this is a problem with TI10 (I have TI9) and the new M$ OS, Vista, but that it isn't a problem with XP (I use XP2 HE). So I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance here.

I used a disk image program to transfer Win XP pro to a new hard drive.
I DID have to re authorize, but it was handled automatically and painlessly over the internet. I think that if you resore to the same disk you may be spared. Either way, it was no trouble.

I used a disk image program to transfer Win XP pro to a new hard drive.
I DID have to re authorize, but it was handled automatically and painlessly over the internet. I think that if you resore to the same disk you may be spared. Either way, it was no trouble.

Click to expand...

The hardware is weighted and scored, so if you move to a new machine you normally would have to reactivate. A change of network card carries a significant weighting all on its own.

"10 PC hardware items Microsoft uses to create the fingerprint portion of the Installation ID code. These components are: the volume serial number of the boot disk (created by formatting); the MAC address (a unique number embedded in the hardware) of an installed network adapter; the PCI hardware identification data from an installed CD-ROM drive, video card, IDE adapter, SCSI adapter and hard drive; the CPU model and serial numbers; the amount of RAM, and whether the system is dockable (laptop) or not (desktop).

Windows XP reevaluates this combination of hardware items whenever it starts up and discovers new devices. Microsoft now says that you can change up to six devices at a time, or your network interface card and three other devices, without having to reactivate"

After two or three on-line activations, yo have to do it by phone. Don't let them make you nervous. They have to let you activate since you apid for the program. They ahve a right to ask a couple if you have the Os on more than one machine, and when you infomr them that you don't they have to reactivate. They don't have any right to withhold nor do they want to. They're mainly trying to stop those theives that are making lots and lots of installations on diff folks machines with the same single license.

Re-activation is a bit of a pita but it should only takes few minutes.

You'll need to activate anytime your startup code check gets a score of less than the threshold (7 out of 10 points-- the details are here: